Written Answers

Friday 19 May 2000

Scottish Executive

Asylum Seekers

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it submitted a response to the consultation document by Her Majesty’s Government on the main regulations relating to Part (vi) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.

Iain Gray: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues.

Asylum Seekers

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether discussions have taken place with local authorities and other interested parties regarding the delivery and management of services which local authorities could be contracted to provide asylum seekers and their dependants.

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what translation services are currently available to assist the successful induction of asylum seekers and their dependants into host communities.

Iain Gray: This is a matter between the National Asylum Support Service and a consortium of Scottish local authorities.

Asylum Seekers

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what input it had in the development of the criteria used to determine to which areas asylum seekers and their dependants are sent in Scotland.

Iain Gray: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues.

Asylum Seekers

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it will take to ensure the adequate provision of specialist legal advice to asylum seekers and their dependants.

Iain Gray: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-6473.

Domestic Abuse

Mike Watson (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any of the monies allocated from the Domestic Abuse Service Development Fund will specifically assist with service provision and support for women with drug or alcohol dependencies.

Jackie Baillie: Scottish Homes is to fund the provision of six self-contained units of refuge accommodation in North Ayrshire for women and children who are unable to be accommodated in communal refuges. This will include women with alcohol or drug dependencies currently on a rehabilitation programme.

  Funding has also been granted to three projects which propose to increase multi-agency work on dealing with domestic abuse, and which will involve support services for women who misuse drugs and/or alcohol.

Enterprise

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that there is no decrease in the 2000-01 budget for Highlands and Island Enterprise and that there is a real terms increase in its budget of the same percentage as that for Scottish Enterprise and on what grounds Scottish Enterprise will receive a real term budget increase while Highlands and Islands Enterprise will receive a decrease.

Henry McLeish: The grant-in-aid allocated to Highlands and Islands Enterprise for financial year 2000-01 amounts to £66.761 million. This represents an increase of £1.371 million over the equivalent figure for 1999-2000.

  Decisions on Highlands and Islands Enterprise’s and Scottish Enterprise’s budgets are considered separately and in response to their respective functions and needs. The budgets are kept under constant review.

Enterprise

Nick Johnston (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in securing new inward investment in Scotland since 1 June 1999.

Henry McLeish: Locate in Scotland is the single agency responsible for the promotion of Scotland for Foreign Direct Investment.

  Locate in Scotland’s results for 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2000 will be published in June. I can tell you, however, that publicly announced projects from inward investors since April 1999 indicate plans to create 10,827 new jobs in Scotland.

  This figure does not include those projects which have not yet publicly announced, or jobs which will be safeguarded as a result of new investment.

Finance

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total value is of its fixed capital investment by department for each of the past three years including the current financial year; what the value is of total fixed capital investment it has planned for each of the next two years; what percentage of its total spending these figures represents in each year, and what percentage changes in real terms do these figures represent year by year.

Mr Jack McConnell: The total value of the actual cash (gross) expenditure on capital assets for the previous two financial years and the planned capital expenditure for the current financial year and the next two years, funded from the Scottish Consolidated Fund, is given in the following table. Any analysis of the Executive’s capital investment should also include capital investment levered in through the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and separate tables are shown below on this.

  Table 1

  


Portfolio main


1997-98 actual


1998-99 actual


1999-2000 planned


2000-01 planned


2001-02 planned







£ million




Local authority


4


4


13


6


7




Children and Central Government 
Education


38


35


38


44


50




Communities


161


285


276


347


328




Crown Office


1


1


2


1


1




Enterprise and Lifelong Learning


275


231


286


276


324




EU Structural Funds


84


88


106


74


98




Forestry


0


0


43


53


56




Health


23


22


64


32


34




Justice


43


37


55


46


52




New Deal


9


27


27


27


27




Rural Affairs


33


25


30


30


32




Scottish Executive Administration


10


11


23


21


17




Scottish Executive Associated 
Departments


2


1


2


3


1




Scottish Parliament


0


0


29


54


23




Transport and Environment


330


299


411


381


386




Unallocated Capital Modernisation 
Fund


0


0


0


13


13







1,013


1,066


1,405


1,408


1,448




  Note: The majority of capital expenditure by the Executive’s departments and agencies is in the form of loans and grants to third parties. This expenditure, along with the department’s own expenditure, is included in Table 1.

  The departmental capital expenditure expressed as a percentage of total departmental expenditure is given in Table 2.

  Table 2

  


Portfolio main


1997-98
% of total spend


1998-99
% of total spend


1999-2000
% of total spend


2000-01
% of total spend


2001-02
% of total spend




Local Authority


0.06


0.07


0.23


0.11


0.11




Children and Central Government 
Education


6.76


5.35


5.07


5.36


5.65




Communities


37.64


50.06


50.19


52.34


47.87




Crown Office


2.71


2.04


2.98


1.20


1.21




Enterprise and Lifelong Learning


15.12


13.42


15.25


14.67


16.25




EU Structural Funds


51.77


54.82


51.14


57.13


57.43




Executive Secretariat


0.00


0.00


0.00


0.00


0.00




Food Standards agency


0.00


0.00


0.00


2.73


2.81




Forestry


0.00


0.00


245.79


190.68


187.42




Health


0.52


0.47


1.26


0.61


0.61




Justice


8.87


7.74


9.28


8.64


9.42




New Deal


100.00


99.49


100.00


100.00


100.00




Rural Affairs


6.54


4.45


5.54


5.35


5.40




Scottish Executive


0.00


0.00


0.00


0.00


0.00




Scottish Executive Administration


7.07


7.30


13.03


12.69


10.55




Scottish Executive Associated 
Departments


17.46


14.58


15.54


18.56


4.16




Scottish Parliament


0.00


0.00


46.79


58.71


36.84




Transport and Environment


61.24


58.60


76.77


67.57


65.67




Unallocated Capital Modernisation 
Fund


0.00


0.00


0.00


100.00


100.00




  The year-by-year percentage change of Capital spend in Real Terms (1998-99 prices) is shown in Table 3

  Table 3

  


Portfolio main


1997-98


1998-99


1999-2000


2000-01


2001-02




Local Authority





-0.2


245.0


-53.7


5.2




Children and Central Government 
Education





-10.4


5.4


11.8


12.5




Communities





71.5


-5.6


22.9


-7.9




Crown Office





-21.0


57.3


-64.8


-2.4




Enterprise and Lifelong Learning





-18.5


20.9


-5.7


14.4




EU Structural Funds





0.9


18.5


-31.6


28.7




Executive Secretariat





0.0


0.0


0.0


0.0




Food Standards agency





0.0


0.0


0.0


-2.4




Forestry





0.0


0.0


19.9


2.4




Health





-8.1


188.5


-50.9


3.0




Justice





-16.2


44.4


-18.4


9.7




New Deal





190.5


-2.1


-2.5


-2.4




Rural Affairs





-26.3


16.1


-4.3


4.3




Scottish Executive





0.0


0.0


0.0


0.0




Scottish Executive Administration





1.6


112.0


-10.1


-21.5




Scottish Executive Associated 
Departments





-50.0


93.9


65.6


-74.6




Scottish Parliament





0.0


0.0


81.2


-58.4




Transport and Environment





-12.2


34.5


-9.6


-1.0




Unallocated Capital Modernisation 
Fund





0.0


0.0


0.0


-1.4




Total





1.9


28.9


-2.2


0.3




  Capital Expenditure Levered in to Scottish Block services through PFI (£0.00 million, cash terms)

  


Agreed PFI deals


1997-98


1998-99


1999-2000


2000-01


2001-02




Local Authorities


10.4


51.1


62.5


40.3


3.8




Water & Sewerage


10.0


30.0


101.0


164.0


10.0




Further & Higher Education


2.6


0


7.3


11.4


5.5




Health


6.4


113.0


145.0


109.0


46.0




Law & Order


5.0


27.0

 
 
 



National Roads & Transport


41.0


45.0


10.0

 
 



Social Work

 

2.2


0.8

 
 



Total


75.4


268.3


326.6


324.7


65.3




  Capital Expenditure Levered in to Scottish Block services through PFI (£0.00 million, cash terms)

  


Future PFI deals


1997-98


1998-99


1999-2000


2000-01


2001-02




Local Authorities

 
 

6.7


164.5


289.2




Water & Sewerage

 
 

20.0


205.0


83.0




Further & Higher Education

 
 
 
 
 



Health

 
 

23.0


68.0


46.0




National Roads & Transport

 
 
 
 
 



Social Work

 
 
 
 
 



Total

 
 

49.7


437.0


418.2




Grand Total


75.4


268.3


376.3


761.7


483.5




  Figures comprise local authorities, central government departments and other public bodies.

Genetically Modified Crops

Alex Johnstone (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether in the future it will be under any legal obligation to allow the full commercial release of genetically modified food or crops.

Ross Finnie: No GM crops or food will be grown or marketed commercially in Scotland until they have passed one of the most rigorous regulatory systems in the world. The Scottish Executive have powers to prohibit release or marketing of the GM crop or food where there is supporting scientific evidence of harm to public health or the environment. European legislation provides that important safeguard.

  Refusal to grant consent for the commercial release or marketing of genetically modified crops or food would be illegal under governing European and domestic law unless such refusal was, as stated above, based on sound scientific evidence. However, under the terms of an agreement reached with the biotechnology industry, no commercial growing of GM crops will take place until the programme of farm scale evaluations is completed and fully assessed. The earliest that could happen is 2003.

Housing

Janis Hughes (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, if Glasgow City Council’s housing stock is transferred, what long-term guarantees on terms and conditions will be given to staff other than the Transfer of Undertakings (TUPE) Regulations, which apply only at the time of transfer.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Staff transferring under the TUPE regulations will transfer on the same terms and conditions of employment as currently apply. The Executive is committed to the principle of no compulsory redundancies, no deterioration in terms and conditions and guaranteed collective bargaining.

  The transfer of Glasgow’s council housing into community ownership could generate some £1,600 million of investment, which would create significant employment opportunities, both for existing and for new staff.

Housing

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how long it will take to train to an acceptable standard the 3,000 additional workers needed to carry out the modernisation of stock following the proposed Glasgow housing stock transfer; who will carry out the necessary training; how this training will be funded and by whom, and when the recruitment and training of these additional workers will commence.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Glasgow City Council and Scottish Enterprise Glasgow are currently addressing these issues in order to maximise the employment and training benefits which a housing transfer would bring. It is estimated that there are some 1,500 claimants, in the Glasgow Travel to Work Area, seeking employment in the construction industry.

Housing

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many extra council officers will be employed to implement the new licensing system for houses in multiple occupation, broken down by local authority area.

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what extra financial assistance will be made available to local authorities to implement the new licensing system for houses in multiple occupation, broken down by local authority area.

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation took place with local authorities in general and Glasgow City Council in particular on the drafting of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation) Order 2000.

Ms Wendy Alexander: All Scottish local authorities and CoSLA were included in the Scottish Office’s initial consultation exercise in 1998 on proposals to introduce mandatory licensing of houses in multiple occupation. Following the decision by Scottish Ministers to proceed with the proposals, CoSLA nominated two members of a Scottish Executive-led working group which was established to draw up guidance on the implementation of the Order on mandatory licensing. CoSLA and its nominees were also among those consulted on a draft of the Order, details of which they made known to local authorities. Glasgow City Council submitted useful comments on the terms of the Order, which were taken into account in its final draft. The final draft of the guidance on mandatory licensing has now been issued to all local authorities for comment.

  Under the provisions of Schedule 1 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, local authorities are expected to charge such reasonable fees necessary to ensure that they receive sufficient income to cover the costs of their various licensing activities under that Act.

  The employment of staff to implement the mandatory licensing system is a matter for local authorities.

Information Technology

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether school technicians should have equal access to IT training and other IT benefits currently available to school teachers and school librarians.

Peter Peacock: Local authorities are able to use money from the NGfL programme of the Excellence Fund to provide technical support for ICT developments. This can include training and staff development for school technicians.

Information Technology

Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made by the Digital Scotland Task Force towards establishing a Scottish equivalent of the "Computers within Reach" scheme.

Peter Peacock: The task force was asked to consider whether offering refurbished personal computers to selected low-income households in Scotland would be an effective means of achieving our aim of giving wider access to the web. I know that members of the task force have been considering this question carefully, alongside other issues relating to social inclusion and digital technologies. The task force’s report is due to be published before the end of May.

Local Government

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to require members of local authority licensing boards and planning committees, which act in a quasi-judicial role, to take part in a training programme, similar to that undergone by JPs for their court duties.

Mr Jim Wallace: It is not an Executive function to provide training for local authority licensing boards. The duties and responsibilities of liquor licensing boards are set out in the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1976.

  Members of planning committees are encouraged to undertake training. The Executive is currently developing a national training framework in collaboration with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and the Royal Town Planning Institute.

Local Government Finance

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-4106 by Mr Jack McConnell on 15 March 2000, what percentage of the 3.7% increase in local authority current expenditure is accounted for by the provision of £38.5 million to meet the costs arising from the abolition of Advanced Corporation Tax credits.

Mr Jack McConnell: Provision to meet the costs arising from the abolition of Advanced Corporation Tax credits increased from £27 million in 1999-2000 to £38.5 million in 2000-01. This increase accounts for 4.8% of the 3.7% increase in local authority current expenditure in 2000-01.

Local Government Finance

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much housing capital borrowing consent was given to Glasgow in each year from 1990-91 to 1999-2000 inclusive in real terms.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The following table sets out Glasgow City Council’s borrowing consent for capital expenditure on its own houses, in each year from 1990-91 to 1999-2000 in real terms (1999-2000 prices).

  

 

£ million




Year 


Borrowing Consent
(1999-2000 Prices) 
  




1990-91


60.459




1991-92


70.132




1992-93


55.789




1993-94


66.451




1994-95


72.097




1995-96


66.032




1996-97


63.115




1997-98


45.601




1998-99


44.843




1999-2000


23.7501




  Notes:

  1. HRA borrowing consent reduced following the transfer to the general fund of HRA debt associated with demolished stock. Since this transfer created revenue savings of around £20 million on the HRA, the overall HRA resources available to the council remained unchanged. Current plans assume that Glasgow’s allocation will be restored to £43.75 million in 2001-02.

Lone Parents

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure the long-term future work of Gingerbread Scotland; whether it has had any discussions with them following the recent suspension of 92 staff because of financial constraints and what support it plans to give to address this situation.

Mr Sam Galbraith: I refer to my earlier response of 17 March (S1W-4845) to Dr Richard Simpson (Ochil) on the issue of funding for Gingerbread Scotland.

Medical Research

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail the research projects which the Nursing Research Initiative for Scotland has been involved in from its establishment to date.

Susan Deacon: Below is a list of the completed (C) and ongoing (O) research projects carried out by NRIS to date. Projects still in the development stage have not been included.

  1. Survey of staff knowledge of Blood Pressure Measurement at the Victoria Infirmary and survey of Sphygmomanometers in the Medical Directorate at the Victoria Infirmary (C).

  2. Genital Chlamydia Infection in Primary Care (C).

  3. An Audit of Nursing Practice in relation to the Administration of Medicines (C).

  4. How to Rise After Falling (C).

  5. Review of Cardiac Rehabilitation in the UK (C).

  6. A Retrospective Study of the Abdominal Muscle Strength of Women who have undergone Breast Reconstruction with a TRAM or DIEP flap within the past four years (C).

  7. A study of the effectiveness of pelvic floor exercise teaching for women with urinary incontinence (O).

  8. Does Perineal Suturing following Childbirth make a difference? (O).

  9. Is a reduced pre-anaesththesia fasting time significant? (O).

  10. A Critical Pathway of Care for patients with MI: implications for Patient Care, Clinical Resources and Health Economics (O).

  11. A pilot study for a RCT of the use of the schedule for the evaluation of individual quality of life in alcohol counselling (O).

  12. Survey of Cardiac Rehabilitation Patients at Victoria Infirmary (O).

  13. Patients Memories of ICU (O).

  14. Assessing the User Defined Validity of Components of Outcome Measures in Acute Psychiatry (O).

  15. Nutritional Assessment in a HDU (O).

  16. Risk Assessment for Fallers in an Elderly Care Ward (O).

  17. Chronic Pain Clinics (C).

  18. Pain Relief for Those Dying at Home (O).

  19. Randomised Controlled Trial Investigating the Effect of Pre-operative Abdominal Exercised on the Post-operative Abdominal Muscle Strength of Women Undergoing Breast Reconstruction with at TRAM or DIEP flap (O).

  20. Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy and Falls in the Elderly (O).

  21. Assessment of CD-ROM based interactive Blood Pressure Measurement Training (O).

  22. Top Up Review: Pressure Ulcer Prevention and Risk Assessment (C).

  23. Discourage Characteristics following Right Hemisphere Brain (O).

  24. Exploratory Study: Health Visitor Assessment of Falls (O).

  25. Randomised Controlled Trial of Sitting versus Standing for Mammography (O).

  26. Community Nurses’ Attitudes and Perceived Barriers to the Use of Research Findings in Clinical Practice (C).

  27. The role of Nurses in Hypertension Care and Research (C).

  28. An Evaluation of the Impact of Employing Experienced Mental Health Nurses in A&E Departments without an on-site Psychiatric Service (O).

  29. Social Networks and Nursing Care of Mentally Disordered Elderly People in the Community (O).

  30. Factors affecting the professional esteem of health care professionals working care of the elderly (O).

  31. Fitness of Purpose of Single Registered or Qualified Midwives (O).

  32. Use of Nurse Practitioners in A&E (O).

  33. The impact of Nurse-led Assessment Clinics for Individual Patients prior to admission for surgery: Improving Hospital Efficiency and Promoting Holistic Patient Care (C).

  34. Development and Evaluation of an Open Learning Package for Practice Nurses in the Management of Hypertension and Reduction of Cardiovascular Risk factors (C).

  35. Nurse Practitioners and Patient Outcomes : A Review of Literature (O).

  36. Prevalence of Post-Operative Surgical Wound Infection in the Community – a Pilot Study (C).

  37. Nurse to Patient Ratio Project (C).

  38. Stress and Quality of Life Among Carers of the Adult Learning Disabled: A Review of The Literature (C).

  39. An Evaluation of Outcome Measures in Urinary Incontinence (C).

  40. Outcomes of Hospital Staffing (2) (C).

  41. Palliative Care Services: A review of the Literature (C).

  42. Research Matrix Project Phases I and II (C).

  43. 12 Hour Shift: A Survey of Current Practice in Scotland (C).

  44. 12 Hour Shift: A Review of the Literature (C).

  45. Stress and Absence Amongst Nurses: A Review of the Literature (C).

  46. A Survey of Mental Health Knowledge: Do The Public Need More Information (O).

  47. Outcomes of Hospital Staffing (1) (O).

  48. Nursing Bandolier Pilot Study (O).

  49. Internet Use in Primary Care (C).

  50. Link Nurse Project (O).

  51. The Sexual Health Sandyford Initiative (O).

  52. How Nurses Review Their Clinical Practice (O).

  53. The Use and Reliability of Standardised Scales and Measures in Decision Making Regarding the Transfer of Mental Health Patients into Care in the Community (O).

  54. Situated Cognition in Nurse Education (O).

  55. The Integration of Quantitative and Qualitative Research (O).

  56. A statistical Investigation of the Reliability, Validity and Sensitivity to Change of Questionnaires Measuring Aspects of Urinary Incontinence (O).

  57. Validation of a General Health-Related Quality of Life Model in People with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: The Scottish and US experience (O).

NHS Funding

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail the real term budget increase as set out in table 4.15 of Investing in You: The Annual Expenditure Report of the Scottish Executive for years 1999-2000 and 2000-01.

Susan Deacon: The real terms increases shown in Table 4.15 in 1999-2000 and 2000-01 are 7.9% and 1% respectively. However, the figures included in Table 4.15 take no account of the additional £173 million added to the Health Budget in 2000-01 and includes in the 1999-2000 expenditure figure £140 million carried forward from 1998-99 under the end-year flexibility arrangements. As there will be spending in each year of money carried forward under the end-year flexibility arrangements, it is more appropriate to compare increases in planned expenditure. On the basis of planned expenditure, real terms increases in 1999-2000 and 2000-01 are 4.0% and 7.3% respectively.

NHS Pay

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce the outcome of negotiations regarding pay scales to be applied to senior managers in the NHS.

Susan Deacon: The new arrangements for the pay of general and senior managers was published to the service on 2 May by a Management Executive Letter (MEL). In addition to bringing the pay of these managers under ministerial direction, the new arrangements will ensure a more robust system of performance management is in place which clearly ties pay to performance and improvements to patient care.

Parliamentary Questions

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to answer question S1W-3923, lodged on 21 January 2000.

Mr Jack McConnell: With apologies for the delay, I hope to be able to reply to question S1W-3923 in the very near future.

Rail Network

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will fund a feasibility study into a rail link for Edinburgh Airport.

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding and support it will give to provide a rail link to Edinburgh Airport.

Sarah Boyack: The potential for a rail link to serve Edinburgh airport has been examined a number of times. Currently it appears to be commercially unviable. It has been estimated that insufficient demand exists to justify the significant amount of capital investment required to provide a rail link and station. The proposed City of Edinburgh Rapid Transit guided bus-way will provide direct links with the Edinburgh to Glasgow railway line.

Roads

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, further to the Minister for Transport and the Environment’s statement on the Strategic Roads Review, it will identify those multi-modal corridor studies which have already been (a) completed or (b) commissioned.

Sarah Boyack: We have advertised for consultants to begin the M80 and M8 corridor studies announced in the Roads Review.

Scottish Executive Expenditure

David McLetchie (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all design contracts, relating to Executive publications, printing and advertising, which have been placed on its behalf since 1 July 1999, including details of the agencies appointed and the estimated value of the contracts.

Mr Jack McConnell: Most design work for the Executive is performed under framework contracts which cover a wide range of services of which design is a part. The following table contains details of specific design contracts let since July 1999.

  


Department/Agency


Company


Estimated Value 
(£)




Scottish Executive


Navy Blue


33,000




Scottish Executive


EH6 Design Consultants


8,500




Crown Office


EH6 Design Consultants


15,000




National Archives


REBUS


7,900




Scottish Prison Service


Catchline


2,000

Teachers

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many teachers were absent due to illness at the end of April 2000.

Mr Sam Galbraith: The information requested is not held centrally. Teachers are employees of local authorities and the management of staff absence is a matter for local authorities.

Telecommunications

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new mobile phone masts are proposed in Scotland following the recent selling of licenses for third generation mobile phones.

Henry McLeish: This is not known at present and will be a commercial decision for the network operators in the first instance.

Young People

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what support is currently available to people leaving care and whether these facilities are available in all regions of Scotland.

Mr Sam Galbraith: All local authorities are required to produce a care plan for each looked-after child which should include arrangements for leaving care and making a positive transition to independence. Support may be offered up to the age of 21.

  The Scottish Executive has commissioned research into the extent and effectiveness of local authority throughcare and aftercare arrangements. This is a two-year study by the University of York and all local authorities have agreed to participate.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Scottish Parliament Logo

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer, further to his answers to questions S1W-6173 and S1W-6219 on 3 May 2000, whether copyright on the Scottish Parliament logo was applied automatically under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988; if so, why costs on copyright were incurred in the £20,000 overall project cost and what this cost was.

Sir David Steel: In terms of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, copyright in the logo subsists automatically. Copyright in the logo was transferred from the logo’s designers to the SPCB. The cost of this transfer was included in the cost of the overall project. The actual cost is commercial-in-confidence because disclosure of the amount could affect the supplier’s success in other competitions if his competitors, and potential clients, are aware of pricing for similar contracts.

Scottish Parliament Logo

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer, further to his answer to question S1W-6173 on 3 May 2000, how many design ideas Redpath proposed and how many they were commissioned to propose; whether the winning entry in the students’ competition was the design developed for full design and production as a logo; why the design costs are commercial-in-confidence, and why Redpath was chosen to propose design ideas.

Sir David Steel: Redpath was selected for the logo design commission because the SPCB considered that synthesis of existing text and the new logo was essential, and Redpath had designed the text-based corporate identity. The commission was for five design ideas, and the one that was selected for full design was not the winning entry in the students’ competition, though that was shown to Redpath.

  The design costs are commercial-in-confidence in accordance with the Parliament's procurement policy that recognises the need to protect private and sensitive third party information. The reasons for this are that it may distort future competition if the Parliament tenders for those, or similar, goods or services again, and because disclosure of the amount could affect the supplier’s success in other competitions if his competitors, and potential clients, are aware of pricing for similar contracts.

Scottish Parliament Logo

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer, further to his answer to question S1W-6174 on 3 May 2000, what form the consultation with business managers took and, irrespective of whether it is a requirement to lay the logo before the Parliament for ratification, whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body will now do so.

Sir David Steel: The consultation with the business managers took the form of a meeting where the managers reviewed and assessed different aspects of, and proposals for, the full design. The SPCB does not intend to lay the logo before the Parliament for ratification. This is one of many decisions which the SPCB was elected to undertake on behalf of this Parliament and significant expenditure has already been incurred in applying the logo to the stationary and other items which members have been requesting.

Scottish Parliament Logo

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer,  further to his answer to question S1W-6172 on 3 May 2000, whether there were any associated costs for the application for registration of the Scottish Parliament logo as a trademark with the Trademark Registry of the Patent Office and, if so, what they were; whether there were any previous applications for registration of any proposed logo; if so, how many and what the associated costs were.

Sir David Steel: There have been no previous applications for registration of any proposed logo.

  The application for trademark is associated with the services of trademark agents. Their costs are commercial-in-confidence in accordance with the Parliament's procurement policy that recognises the need to protect private and sensitive third party information. The reasons for this are that it may distort future competition if the Parliament tenders for those, or similar, goods or services again, and because disclosure of the amount could affect the supplier’s success in other competitions if his competitors, and potential clients, are aware of pricing for similar contracts.